Part of my series, Fate of Andell, that I am currently working on by doing the lore and history with the various races. Mostly war between various species and races. This the history of the Dwelling Uururk war. Please R&R and offer insights please.

Under the frosted and misty mountains of the sunless valley of Grovor, the networks of underground roads led to the under city, Grovordor. Here lies the mighty Dwarves, creative and masters in the art of forging weapons, architecture, and of course, the Dwarven Runes. The kingdom of Grovordor has be ruled by ten Dwarf warlords who once fought for this settlement, for it was their capital that they fought over thousands of years ago during the first war. They dug deep into the mountains to escape the sun's unforgiving shine, and within this mound of stone, resided rare and powerful stones; and unexpected stone machinery. The Golems were a significant find for the Dwarves. They were useful for the digging, forging in the hot environments, patrolling, trading, and of course, for war. All was well for Grovordor with the growing Dwarf population, aside from the wars between one another and with the Orcs and goblins.

But what lived in those tunnels and mines abandoned for new sites live the vile, diseased, vicious, vulgar, mad, and many.

They scurried from tunnel to tunnel, mine to mine in search of food, as they were rats once. Some say they were children from the old world, who escaped the darkness of the emotionless Shadow Mongerers and ran into the deep, hiding from the chaos and disorder. They turned as they lost their minds to the scourge of what laid in the deep. Others say they were rats who came across the dangerous relic of the old world, the essence of god, and turned into the rat men. It is unknown of how these Rat men or the "Uururk" came to be, but the Dwarven merchants tell tales to the Elves and Norse men of the Uururk and their "Gods". The gods of four; Malice, Pestilence, Desecration, and Necrosis; the gods of the Uururk who demand an offering of four to satisfy their "agenda".

Many feared the horrors of the beast known as the Uururk, as the Dwarves call them as well as the Rat men do. To the Dwarves after the Dwelling Uururk war, they stood their ground from any attack. They fear the Rat men and their giant Rat mounts, or the Uuruki. With these tales seem to scare children, while others call it bluff.

To those who do not believe that the Uururk are real…they are gravely uneducated of the Dwelling war.

It began in 3789 NW, with a mining camp connected to the road to Grovordor as the mining in Vrukl led to a bountiful source of gold, silver, iron, jewels, and of course, the power stones used to create the Dwarven runes. As the miners celebrated the fallowing night in the tavern, drinking mead, feasting, and flirting with the Dwarven bar wenches; but with all the music, drinks, and celebrating with bar fights, they disturbed beings that should not be disturbed.

Back at the mines, the unlucky sobs that have the job to pick up the ore, rare stones, and jewels, placing them into the carts. Others counted the value, others cleaned up any explosive mess, and others had the lucky job of counting and assuring the tools are in check and repairs if need be. Yet, as one miner decided to try to strike it rich as no one was around to claim the vein his. As he heaved his pickax down on the vein, the wall gave in from the abuse and crumbled. A cavern of darkness was discovered. Before the Dwarf could shed light, an eerie orb had been chucked at his face, cutting him and spilling an unknown substance over his face and into his wounds. He began to feel ill from the surprise and began to fade; a disease he had contracted from this weapon. He fell to the ground, limb and cold.

With the miner's death came creatures that looked like a rat, and it was the same height of the Dwarf that it had killed. It had crimson eyes, because it was blood hungry for war, food and slaves. Their fur had been stained with the blood of their own kind. Armor crafted to fit them well; without any unusual troubles with supplies. Weapons that may just look dull and harmless would be considered poisonous, precise, and deadly. Knives, short swords, small axes, crude arrows, metal claws, and of course, the diseased orbs. As repulsive they may be with warts and sores at random times of the season, they are strictly immune to all the known diseases.

It growled with bitterness and spoke an eerie tongue to command others to fallow its lead. As the call was answered more of the Uururks scurried out of the hole and began to search the area, finding the ore and stones founded by the Dwarves. These creatures claimed the mine as their own territory, killing off the miners who were ambushed by the hundreds of rat men. As the killings echoed through the tunnels turned silent, the Uururks heard more of the intruders, a single Uururk went to see the sounds and saw strange lights coming from the mining camp of Vrukl. It returned to its clan warlord, bringing news of fire, light, food, ores, stone, and the beard things (Dwarves).

The Uururk warlord was pleased with his success, finding a new source of food other than fungus, bugs, toads, and commonly, the dead. The warlord called for the horn to be sounded to summon the clan. As the horn sounded, it echoed from the mine and into the cavern, brining forth the horde of the rat men upon the camp. But the camp was alerted.

Sadly, the camp had no guards and far from the Dwarven civil war and warring gates to the deep. They were over whelmed with thousands of the Uururks, slaughtered silent with a celebration of a great find turned to chaos. The food was scavenged, the corpses looted and eaten; the gear scavenged if deemed useful and disposed of useless items.

The Uururk had burned down the camp and continued on through the tunnels, killing and burning Dwarven towns and caravans. Such brutality from beings of the rats, waiting in the dark with hundred of thousands of Uururk; Poisoning their foes with disease and plagues, overwhelming numbers, and assaulting from behind. No light to guide them through the darkness of the tunnels, only their natural sights and smell.

Within days, small Dwarven towns have been decimated and the population killed for food or enslaved for their growing demand of food or experiments that needed to be done.

But the Uururk's genocidal territorial killing spree did not go unnoticed. The ten Dwarven warlords have been discussing with the Dwarf king, accusing the rebels or the Orcs and Goblins. Several warlords accused one-another for the sudden disappearance of the towns and mining camps, they threatened each other with war. Others sought to find out what was causing the sudden disappearance.

The Dwarven king, Grim'Tor the hardened, agreed with the curious warlords and with a trustworthy dwarf by the name of Siggur, went to seek out the ones responsible for the disappearance of the towns. With an ax and twenty Dwarven warriors went with him into the deep, to the next town to disappear; Qurtzul.

Days passed in the deep, with the great deep roads, Siggur and the Dwarven warriors arrived to Qurtzul to see a battle in progress. It was difficult to see who was attacking, even to tell what was responsible. One of the Dwarven warriors suggested that they should go and help the townsfolk and discover who is attacking them. As the warriors agreed, as well as Siggur, they prepared to help their fellow brothers in arms. As they charged down hill, they saw the wall had been breached and the defending Dwarves locked in mortal combat. Siggur and his warriors clashed into the backs of an enemy's support, only to see giant rats.

With the horrendous discovery, they killed as many as thirty-one of the rat men before they routed. But that signaled the Uururk to send their own to kill the enemy reinforcements. Siggur order his men to fall back.

Like every Dwarf, they groaned and grew angry, but orders were orders. So they retreated with twenty men outnumbered by thousands of the Uururk.

Yet, within the days after the encounter with the Rat men, the Uururk's who were sent to kill the Siggur and his Dwarf brothers still fallowed. They were tired, hungry, and thirsty. They were not going to make it back to Govordor to tell the Warlords and the Dwarf king who was responsible. They had stopped, knowing that they would die in the deep roads.

They stood their ground and readied for the Rat men to attack them. As the Uururk warriors came from the darkness, with over a thousand or more Rat men, wearing armor made from specially crafted metal, swords and axes of special metals, and a thirst of blood. Siggur and his dwarves believed they were going to die there in the deep, but the unexpected happened. To their left was one of the Dwarven Warlord's armies led by Fielkil, who was victorious from silencing the rebelling Dwarves. Even the Uururk turned their heads after hearing the song of the deep. Fiekil saw the Dwarf warriors and the Rat men; luckily, they still were armed (as code for marching from a victorious battle to avoid a counter attack) and ready to exodus the over sized pests.

As Fiekil and his two-thousand and a hundred Dwarf solders against the thousand and a hundred-fifty Uururks: against beasts of foulness and disease and the masters of forging and weaponry; a true battle and an oddly one too.

The Dwarves led by Fiekil slaughtered as many of the Rat men, whereas the Uururks have done the same to the Dwarves. Soon, Dwarf warriors began to slowly die from the toxins that covered the blades of the Uururks. The Dwarf archers picked off the masses of the Uururk Uurqul (Main light infantry), their Uurful (Heavy spear infantry), and the Uuryolr and Uuryolt (Main Orb infantry (Range warriors) and Orb Sling masters). With their armor, the Dwarves had the advantage, as well as weaponry. They had the numbers…for now.

The Dwarf warriors charged into the ranks of the Uururk, killing many with a charge of glory. The Dwarven archers lunched a volley, bringing death to the Rats of the deep. Those fighting in front suffer the assault of axe and arrows, while the Uuryolr threw their orbs into the crowd of Dwarves and the Uuryolt launched their orbs from the leather slings made from the hides of their own kin. The Uurqul and the Uurful met the assault with quickness, numbers, and most of all, diseases and plagues. It was grueling skirmish, lasting only an hour or two; the ones who fled or slain were the Uururks. Although they had the advantage of quickness, disease, and numbers (which they lacked) could not withstand the blows of the axes, swords, hammers, and arrows. The Dwarves did not go without casualties; many died from the poisoning from the tainted blades and orbs of the diseased. Others died from the conflict when they charged and fought as a snake and a mongoose.

With the raged numbers of Fiekil's army, once two-thousand and a hundred, and what remained mere eight-hundred and seventy-five dwarves. Siggur and the remnants of his twenty dwarves limbed back home, with news of the dreaded Rat men.

The Dwarven warlords argued with one-another and accused Siggur of lying to them and their king. The king found this strange, he demanded proof. As Siggur tried to tell the warlords and the Dwarf king of what they looked like, Fiekil, the son of the warlord Agurtkosh, dragged in a body of the Uururk. Dropped the body before his king, telling the warlords and the high one of what happened.

"We marched from the south from our victorious purge of the rebels and the Orcs and Goblins, in my fathers name and for your honor, my king. While we marched, weapons in our hands to ward off any counter attacks. That is when we saw the dreadful, vulgar, and repulsive Rat men chasing Siggur and his warriors. As we fought the foul beasts, they shouted a tongue I have never heard of and from the chaos, I have heard one say "Uururk". They fought with deceit and the taint on their blades. I believe they are the things that are responsible for the disappearance of our settlements. They seem to be coming this way." –Fiekil of Fireforge, son of Agutkosh, report to the high king.

With the word of Fiekill, the Warlords turned to their king and demanded his word on the matter, whether or not to go to war with the Uururk. Grim'tor, the high king of Grovordor spoke with his high and mighty voice of the deep.

"By the Four Dwarves, I Grim'tor, High king of Grovordor, call forth the ten Warlords; Agurkosh of Fireforge, Swvikit of Donfr, Troll killer Urz of Hovir, Asu'Donar of Asuzstone, Rivwrik of Y'sil, Jothun slayer Turas of Isuhurz, Bovhir of Iron Spring, Stone Heart of Gungruo, and Braheel Slayer Frujikel! I call to you to entrust your lives for the people of Dwarvenheim, for your people. I will be the first to charge and I'll be the first to leave the battle, living or dead. I will raise my horn of mead to honor you and your willingness and bravery." –Grim'tor, high king of Grovordor, voice of the deep.

As the voice of the deep was casted, all of the citizens of Grovordor, soldiers and nobles as well, answered the call. To the armory, the Dwarven men went to arm themselves. In the homes behind the Great Wall of Grovordor, Dwarven women gathered to protect themselves and their children and send prayers and their goodbyes to loved ones. The Golems awoken to serve Grim'tor and the ten Warlords; the Dwarf Rune masters came from the burrow of their studies and their teacher of Dwarf Runes, Rune master Ahvic.

The Great walls manned with over a thousand archers and few hundred soldiers. The Three great gates of the North, North-west, and North-east marched the armies of the Warlords. Urz and Swvikit to the North-west. Turas, Asu'Donar and the king Grim'tor to the North. and Frukikel and Gungruo to the North-east. Agurtkosh and Rivwrik were behind the walls with other Dwarfen warriors, gaurds, archers, and Dwarf Rune masters.

Soon, all the Dwarves had rallied themselves at the walls, the gates, and under the command of the Dwarven Warlords and their High King, Grim'tor. The archers and crossbowmen were eager to score their mead for their hawk eyes. Ballistic engineers checked their defensive weapons, ready to skewer the rat men; dwarven warriors and high guards ready to face the scourge of Uururk; ready to die for their warlords; to die for Grim'tor, their high king.

With over sixty-five thousands of Dwarves stand guard, to die for greater glory!

This was their stand that would be glimmering when they tell tales of the battle that took place at the bridges and gates of Grovordor. Where sixty-five-thousand Dwarves that stood against over a hundred-thousand or more Uururks that seek for food, slaves, and anything deemed worthy.

Above the deep mountains and the clouding skies, the sky rose with the moon. The Rat men have arrived at midnight, hungry for war, flesh, and blood. They screeched in the thousands, ready for the scorning and the essence of their gods; Malice, Pestilence, Desecration, and Necrosis gave their unholy powers to the Uururk warlord who gathered the horde of Rat men. He was given the name Xurcosis by Grim'tor, known as the Defiler of Flesh and Bones.

Xurcosis was feared as a brooding, blood thirsty, war hungry, lusting, obsessive, power hungry, and unholy religious. He was larger than the others; he was even larger than his Uurkil guard (large Uururk heavy pike rats) and it astonished Grim'tor of their social structure. He called forth the priests of the four, asking for their unholy and irregular blessings. The powers of unsanctified death were his, plagues were his, and power was his as well, but the god, Desecration, demanded a sacrifice in order to achieve his desires. It would be his downfall for that blessing, more of a curse than a blessing.

Xurcosis raised his diseased stave blade and called for the Hordes to charge the bridges of Grovordor. What the Dwarves did not know, was that the Uururk had brought siege weapons; a catapult known as the cremator, since it threw barrels of burning oil and explosive iron balls to destroy the fortifications the Dwarves had; they came with their own battering rams to bring the towering gates down.

Grim'tor ordered his warriors to hold their ground, and so they did, even the Dwarven warlords fallowed his example and held their own ground. When the Uururk began to charge, the Iron Guards lowered their halberds to impale the rat men when they draw nearer. The battle had begun and the spilling of blood would become legendary; it would be remembered as the battle of Grovordor.

As the Uururk's Uurgul and Uurful clashed with the halberds and Dwarven shields, many rat men died on impact, while others lived to see another collision of both armies. Arrows and bolts from the Dwarven archers and crossbowmen struck down the vile creatures as they engaged combat. Dwarves were hit with the plaque ridden orbs of the Uuryolr and Uuryolt, killing the Dwarves slowly with the diseases inside of them.

The battle had become a blood bath in the hours that came. Blood from Dwarves and Uururk that spilled onto the stone tiles of the bridge; fur of the Uururk soaked with blood of both kin and foe. They continued to fight. The battle lasted for days.

None of the Dwarven Warlords or Grim'tor had fallen in battle, but so many of their kin slain by foul blades of vulgar beasts. They had stood against a wave of thirty-five thousands of the Uururk hoard. Although they slew over a quarter of the rat men, they lost about half of their warriors on the bridges. Grim'tor ordered his brothers of the deep to fall back behind the walls of Govordor, not because of fear, but strategy. Another wave had began to charge again, but with more of the diseased beasts and their battering rams.

Xurcosis commanded his worthy Uururk to send the battering ram to the gates to break through and claim their glorious prize. The battering ram was towering, almost the size of the gates that stood towering the buildings inside. What pushed the Battering ram surprised the Dwarves; Braheel ogres were chained by the rat men and forced to push the siege equipment and for fighting. The hulking beasts were controlled by the Plaque priest who blistered their small minds with boiling war and slaughter. A well disguised promise for the weakest of powers alone, but mighty when united.

Siege weapons catapulted the explosive spike iron balls to destroy the fortification, including the gates support. Explosions killed many Dwarven archers and crossbowmen and demolished the walls and towers. The ballista Dwarves skewered the rat men by the dozens, barely harmed by the explosions. They killed several Braheels, slowing the battering rams. Runic spells from the Dwarven Rune Masters burned the beasts from up high on the wall. No once can climb over the walls, for Grovordor's walls reach the ceiling of the cave. But the Uururk can climb up the walls and into it.

Before the battering rams reached the gates, the Dwarves found a new danger; the Uururk could also dig their way under and into the city by their will.

Xurcosis stood in the back to watch the beautiful mayhem and the music of dying Dwarves filled the air between him and the battle.

For Grim'tor, his stand would be either a costly victory or a slaughtering defeat. He, the king of Grovordor and of all the Dwarves, sung the song of the deep and slumbering mountains. For there was more than just Dwarves and their cities that were under the earth and mountains, but an ancient race that had slumbered, unlike the Uururk, they weren't Rat men. But they were of the ancient man conjured between lizard and man in the age of dust. Names long forgotten than that of the golems and resurrected by the howling winds of war; the new race was that of stone and far worse than the Uururk, for they only knew of the Dwarves as friends and allies.

For they can strike fear into the hearts of the war mongering Orcs and that of the hardened knights of the world above; for they were like animals, but educated by the Dwarves in war.

They were known as the Guizule (Dwarven for Lizards of the past). And Grim'tor had begun the song that would bring massacre to the marauding Rat men.

"I sing to you beings of the south,

For we seek your aid in our time of need,

Mighty Lizards of the past,

Show us your strength once more,

To punish our foes who seek to destroy your allies,

Spill their blood,

So that once again we return the favor."

King Grim'tor, song of the war-lizards.

To Xurcosis, the song brought humor to him. The Dwarves were to be the bravest beings in the underworld (What the Uururk called the world under and over world for the world above). He laughed and laughed until the humor dried up like a slug in a pit of salt; he ordered his minions to kill all the beard things (What they called the Dwarves) in their stone city and slaughter all in their way. But far behind them, a call had been answered, like the storm and the seas.

As the siege continued, the Guizule hissed and howled in the distance, spooked the Uururk siege engineers, reinforced infantry, archers and orb throwers, and Xurcosis himself turned to see in the dark tunnels they came through. Dust arose and the hissing continued, to the Uururk, they did not know what was to come. When they (the Guizule) came from the tunnels and dust, shadows of a large beast-man (Anthruls) lurked behind the screen of dirt. Then more came. To the Dwarf size rat men, they were looking at a new potential prey and something to fear. The lizard men pounced from the screen, with scale colors of red, green, and black wielding axes, crude swords, clubs, and spears to slay the cowardly-dreaded beasts. They even used the horns they were born with and their long tail as to trip the Uururk and then devour them on the spot.

Xurcosis commanded the Uuryolr and Uuryolt to throw and sling their diseased orbs to the monstrous beast men, to seek them to tumble from foul diseases contracted.

They were sadly disappointed, for the Lizards of the Past were naturally resistant to old age diseases and the current diseases that wandered with these foul beasts and around Andell.

When that failed, The Guizule pounced on the cowards and shredded them open. The Uuryolr and Uuryolt began to flee in fear, so too did the catapult engineers route from the large carnivores. Those Uururk troops reserved were locked into a bitter battle for survival. The Braheel masters turned their attention to the surprise attack from the rear flank and forced the Braheels to charge into the fray. In the front the disgusting Rat men kept the siege in progress and dug into the city from the under. But to them, the Lizard men were quite deceptive as their new found food were, clever than the foul rats. They were also in the gorge under the extensive bridge, and they could dig faster than the Uururk.

The Guizule climbed the walls of the gorged and surprised the rat men in the front and from the under too. They picked off the Uururk off one by one. They lost several of their own kind, but that did not demoralize them, but made them hungrier. What made them hungrier, made them more enraged and bloodthirsty, and what made them bloodthirsty, was the fire of life, death, and hate burning inside of their hearts. They hissed and growled as many slaughtered the Uururk and few slain by the Rat men, but they enjoyed the feast of their life.

As this continued, the Braheel Ogres charged in with their minds under the plague of the Uururk, Swinging the massive clubs they carried. Sending few of the Guizule flying, but this did not scare the Guizule; it made them eager to kill these beasts. With such speed and strength, they brought down the Braheel and slaughtered the masses.

On the bridge and the walls, the black, red, and green lizard men continued the slaughter upon the diseased rats. With support from the ballista crews, crossbow Dwrarves, and the Dwarven rune masters, they rained down bolts and magic on the Braheels and the Uururk. The Guizule fought with pure savagery and they liked it.

Xurcosis never lost a battle to anyone, but his hundred-thousand Uururk hoard began to lose moral. As the Uururk are the strongest in numbers, but they are very weak when outnumbered or overpowered, which happened with the Guizule massive strength. The massive force of the Uururk sank down from hundred-thousand to a mere twenty-five thousand. They ran as all cowards do and they did not deserve to live in a world where many would have to be brave or be spared of their lives with blades and spears. Only the brave who join the ranks of their lords and warlords, will never back away and if they do, they'll face execution, or face self-exile.

But alas, the war hungry Uururk chieftain, who was blessed by the gods of four, now his life ended by the blade of the Dwarf King Grim'tor, as a king should do to the assailant of his kingdom and his people; even for those poor souls who were lost to their vicious attacks. The tainted blood of Xurcosis seeped into the stone, leaving the reminder of the foul and dreaded rat men or Uururk.

And so, after that massive battle and devastating defeat for the Uururk and a costly victory for the Dwarves of Grovordor, but their ally, the Guizule lost few.

And so, ends the tale of the massive battle under the world of Andell. But, the war was far from over. In about five hundred years, in 4289 NW, the smallest Uururk clans would be pushed out of their tunneled home and onto the over world (Andell), while the larger Uururk clans continued the war that Xurcosis, the Uururk chieftain of the Divvnos Clan. Thousands of the Uururks from the clans Finnur, Jhoular, Suurur, and the Tyeigun would march towards the Dwarves in later years and a massive stalemate between the two would arise.

But with the smaller Uururk clans above, they would later become large clans residing in various mountains and swamplands. While the Other clans fight, the Uururk would become a rather nuisance than a real threat. One cannot be sure until it is too late when the rat men swarm castles and cities with uncountable numbers.

Only time would tell of these beasts and their continuous war with the Dwarves and the threat to the other races above Grovordor…

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